Two Killed in Gas Well Explosion in Western Pa.

A natural gas well explosion near Pittsburgh has left two people dead.

KYW's Tony Romeo reports that it was less than two months ago that a natural gas well blowout in Clearfield County, Pa. made headlines.

But Helen Humphreys, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, says that unlike the Clearfield County well, the Allegheny County well that exploded this morning is not located in the Marcellus Shale formation which has seen a dramatic increase in activity:

"No, it is not. This is a shallow well -- it's only about 3,500 feet deep. This well was drilled quite some time ago."

Humphreys says it appears the explosion was caused by welders who were doing some kind of maintenance or repair work on the site.

She says this incident involves a completely different set of circumstances than the well blowout in June, and says she can't speculate on implications for the industry pending a thorough investigation.